Fall 2012 Season

[Pius Aeneas]

Hooray Aeneas!!!! SO happy for you. I saw that post on the results survey and I hoped that it was you!

Thanks! Waiting for good news was really starting to get to me.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Pius Aeneas

[Veilside1]

Congrats Aeneas!! And by the way, I'm at UArizona now if you ever feel like messaging me some questions. I know that apps have not yet been reviewed here and likely won't be until the later portion of February. The deadline is Feb 15, and I wouldn't expect to hear word until about the first week of March.

[Pius Aeneas]

Thanks, Veilside1! If I've been accepted at UArizona when the time comes to make a final decision on programs, I'll be sending some questions your way.

[Veilside1]

Someone want to claim the UPenn Ancient History acceptance? Congrats by the way!

Also there's a rejection on the results page for Ancient History at Princeton. Just curious if that person applied to their PAW program via the History or Classics Department.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Veilside1

[OdiEtAmo]

Hi! I posted the UPenn ANCH acceptance. SUPER excited!! Got an e-mail from Cynthia Damon last night. Also, woke up to an invite to visit Brown's Ancient History program (posted in the results survey), so it looks like the Classics side of the program is notifying now.

[non humilis mulier]

Hi! I posted the UPenn ANCH acceptance. SUPER excited!! Got an e-mail from Cynthia Damon last night. Also, woke up to an invite to visit Brown's Ancient History program (posted in the results survey), so it looks like the Classics side of the program is notifying now.

Congratulations!

[maeisenb]

I also posted a Penn ancient history as well (yes I know my tag says medieval).

[Veilside1]

OdiEtAmo,

Congrats! Was your rejection from Michigan for IPGRH? And if so, when did you hear? I still have yet to hear from them.

[OdiEtAmo]

Veilside,

Actually my Michigan app was for Classical Studies. I have a kind of random assortment of applications. Hope that means there is still hope for you for IPGRH!!

[Veilside1]

Actually my Michigan app was for Classical Studies. I have a kind of random assortment of applications. Hope that means there is still hope for you for IPGRH!!

Thanks! Actually there are already a few people who've received rejections from IPGRH, but they have yet to accept anyone. I find this odd, since they only have 27 applications and those that were rejected found out about 10 days ago...

[rkg2012]

Anyone else hear from Penn?

Congrats. When is their prospectives weekend? It doesn't look like AAMW has send out acceptances yet, but they are notorious for not rejecting anyone until mid-late March, so I'd like to know when to give up hope.

[non humilis mulier]

Congrats. When is their prospectives weekend? It doesn't look like AAMW has send out acceptances yet, but they are notorious for not rejecting anyone until mid-late March, so I'd like to know when to give up hope.

Oh, I'm sorry if that post was ambiguous. I have *not* heard from Penn for Classical Philology, good or bad. One of my friends has, and he is on the wait list for Classics. I have no idea what notifications have been sent out, and grad cafe is strangely silent on the matter!

[non humilis mulier]

And, I'm not entirely sure that Penn does an interview weekend for Classics. But again, I may be wrong here. I got that notion from browsing previous years' threads on the application season on this forum.

[rkg2012]

And, I'm not entirely sure that Penn does an interview weekend for Classics. But again, I may be wrong here. I got that notion from browsing previous years' threads on the application season on this forum.

Ahh, I see. Well good luck then. I'm not sure whether they send out all the acceptance/wait-list letters at the same time. The rejections come pretty late though, or at least they have in the past. : /

Penn doesn't do an interview weekend, but they do invite accepted students to campus for a couple days. They have AAMW, Classics, and Ancient History students all there together for at least some of it. I did the post-bacc at Penn, so I know that much.

[bluetubeodyssey]

I have a phone interview with Michigan this week. Does anyone have advice? I'm expecting questions like:

"Why Michigan?"

"What are your strengths/weaknesses?"

"What do you anticipate will be the hardest part about being a graduate student for you?"

"What do you plan to do with your PhD afterward?"

However, I'm not sure exactly what they will ask, and so I'm stuck preparing for every conceivable question. So I was hoping that perhaps someone else here has had a phone interview with a graduate program and could give some input as to what kinds of questions to expect.

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

[Frostfire]

I have a phone interview with Michigan this week. Does anyone have advice? I'm expecting questions like:

"Why Michigan?"

"What are your strengths/weaknesses?"

"What do you anticipate will be the hardest part about being a graduate student for you?"

"What do you plan to do with your PhD afterward?"

However, I'm not sure exactly what they will ask, and so I'm stuck preparing for every conceivable question. So I was hoping that perhaps someone else here has had a phone interview with a graduate program and could give some input as to what kinds of questions to expect.

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

While I haven't had a phone interview with grad programs, my advice would be to stick with honesty. If they ask you something you're not prepared for, I'd suggest going for a simple "Hmm. (brief pause) Well, I hadn't thought about it, but my first thought is ..." and go from there. Thoughtful is probably better than polished on something like that. But that's my impression, so definitely come up with your own game plan. But I think if you have a plan for dealing with unexpected questions, that should speak well of your maturity, flexibility, and confidence.

Good luck!

[OdiEtAmo]

I had a phone interview with Cambridge (who knows, they might do things differently). It was all about my research. Most of the questions were based on the writing sample I submitted. I had another interview recently (for a scholarship, not a graduate school, but conducted by academics) in which they asked me mostly questions about my intended discipline: problems plaguing the field, what my contribution would be, etc. Based on these experiences, I would expect some questions related to your personal statement/writing sample/field of interest.

[non humilis mulier]

To echo OdiEtAmo, I would also suggest making sure you know your own research backwards and forwards. I got questions about my research from a few years back, in addition to inquiries about my current pursuits and writing sample. Good luck!

[rkg2012]

I have a phone interview with Michigan this week. Does anyone have advice? I'm expecting questions like:

"Why Michigan?"

"What are your strengths/weaknesses?"

"What do you anticipate will be the hardest part about being a graduate student for you?"

"What do you plan to do with your PhD afterward?"

However, I'm not sure exactly what they will ask, and so I'm stuck preparing for every conceivable question. So I was hoping that perhaps someone else here has had a phone interview with a graduate program and could give some input as to what kinds of questions to expect.

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

I would add that you should be prepared with some questions about the program/university/professor's research. My interview last year for the place I'm at included the standard questions about my (somewhat odd) background, what my plans were, why this university, etc, but ended with my questions. I was also asked how likely I was to attend if admitted, which caught me off guard, but it was a pre-decision interview. It was honestly pretty informal, but that probably depends on the prof.

[bluetubeodyssey]

You guys are awesome, thank you very much for all your help. I've had so many jobs that I know how to proceed just fine in a job interview, but I've never had an academic interview, so it's a bit intimidating!

I'm kind of stuck with the "how likely am I to attend if admitted" question, because UCLA and Harvard would be better fits for my research interests, but I haven't heard from them yet. So if I don't get into those schools, then I really want to attend Michigan, but of course I probably won't know by the time of the interview and I will feel guilty if I say, "yes, I would attend if admitted" and then decline because I was accepted into UCLA or Harvard.

But I guess that's how the graduate school game is played. Thanks again!

[luciuslin]

You guys are awesome, thank you very much for all your help. I've had so many jobs that I know how to proceed just fine in a job interview, but I've never had an academic interview, so it's a bit intimidating!

I'm kind of stuck with the "how likely am I to attend if admitted" question, because UCLA and Harvard would be better fits for my research interests, but I haven't heard from them yet. So if I don't get into those schools, then I really want to attend Michigan, but of course I probably won't know by the time of the interview and I will feel guilty if I say, "yes, I would attend if admitted" and then decline because I was accepted into UCLA or Harvard.

But I guess that's how the graduate school game is played. Thanks again!

Don't worry about that. I believe they will invite you to their recruitment weekend in mid-march after the phone interview, and they won't expect your decision until then simply because they will also not make any final admission or funding decision before they meet you.

[rkg2012]

You guys are awesome, thank you very much for all your help. I've had so many jobs that I know how to proceed just fine in a job interview, but I've never had an academic interview, so it's a bit intimidating!

I'm kind of stuck with the "how likely am I to attend if admitted" question, because UCLA and Harvard would be better fits for my research interests, but I haven't heard from them yet. So if I don't get into those schools, then I really want to attend Michigan, but of course I probably won't know by the time of the interview and I will feel guilty if I say, "yes, I would attend if admitted" and then decline because I was accepted into UCLA or Harvard.

But I guess that's how the graduate school game is played. Thanks again!

I was honest and said that the program was certainly one of my top choices, but I was still waiting on offers/funding from other universities. They let me in. I think that they just wanted to know that I was serious about it. But Luciuslin is probably right that they won't ask. Most schools don't.

[luciuslin]

Odyssey,

I know that because I received a letter of invitation early this month with a lot of details. Don't feel nervous, I do not mean that there are two actual interviewes ahead of you instead of one. I have no idea what a phone interview is like but I believe the recruitment weekend is little more than "let us make sure that you are not insane". Anyway, good luck with your interview and UCLA/Harvard application!

[non humilis mulier]

Has anyone here been to a recruitment/interview weekend yet? If yes, would you mind sharing some of what you learned with us?

[BobGant]

Heard from Kansas recently. I'm impressed by the attention they're paying to me (and did even before I applied). Still waiting on my other 3, but it's a relief to hear something positive!